


The Waiting

by Lunaris (lunaris1013)



Category: Smallville
Genre: Angst, Futurefic, Jossed, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2002-11-05
Updated: 2002-11-05
Packaged: 2017-11-01 10:22:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 531
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/355547
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lunaris1013/pseuds/Lunaris
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Clark grows up, Lex grows distant</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Waiting

"So, I guess I'll see ya." 

"I meant it when I said you could come and visit whenever you wanted. You know that, don't you?" 

He did. And the first time or two that he'd gone to the Metropolis penthouse, it was if nothing had changed. But soon enough, Lex was cutting his visits short. There were meetings and business trips to deal with, and Clark knew that empire building was hard work. Bi-weekly visits became monthly; monthly visits became infrequent. By the time LutherCorp had become Lexcorp, Lex wasn't home at all anymore and Clark gave up. It was okay, really. Not all friendships lasted forever. And the other thing? Well, just another teen-age crush. He'd get over it just like the others. Besides, he still saw Lex. He was right there on the covers of Time and Newsweek, Forbes and Fortune. 

* * *

The years went by as high school faded into college life. Clark dated around; girls in Smallville, both genders when he got to Metropolis U. But when the dreams came, the ones that still made him float, they were of Lex and no one else. 

By the time graduation passed and a job at the Planet was a reality, the dreams had stopped. The collection of glossy magazines and press clippings and televised interviews was too painful to look at, much less make additions to. The hole in his heart was still there, though. It had just scarred over. 

When he got his first front-page byline, there was a little party. Lois and Chloe and a few of the guys from the city desk decended on his apartment with pizza and cheap champagne. He was on a high, so when the call came that night, the crash was harder. 

"He asked for you." 

"Me? But..." 

"Kent, when Lex Luthor wants to grant you an exclusive you don't ask questions!" 

He woke up three feet above his bed the next morning. 

* * *

It came after the pleasantries, after uncomfortable and uncertain attempts at catching up with each other. After a particularly tense silence. 

"Why did you leave?" 

"Leave? Lex, what are you..." 

"You left me, Clark. You stopped coming. For a while, I assumed you'd been grounded. Eventually I figured out that your life no longer included me." 

" _My_ life no longer included _you?_ Do you have any idea how often I finished dinner alone while you were taking a call? How often you missed the end of the movie? How often I went home rather than stay over? Do you Lex? Did you ever even realize that I'd left? Don't talk to me about leaving, Lex. I'm the one who spent my 18th birthday waiting alone in your apartment, for gods sake!" 

"No, Clark. What you don't understand is that I was the one waiting for you." It was said quietly, painfully. 

"On me? Lex. I..." 

"I was waiting for you to finish high school. For you to move away from Smallville, the farm. Away from your father. I was waiting, Clark, for you to become an adult because I needed... I needed you to be sure." 

It was almost a whisper. Almost hopeful. "Sure of what?" 

"Of us." 


End file.
